The present invention relates to a device which can be used for transporting a handicapped child to and from a bed to a bathtub and supporting the child in the tub while being bathed by an attendant. The device can also be used as a seat.
Various appliances are presently available to aid in bathing invalids or the handicapped. The Dalton U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,399 and Farmer U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,163 are illustrative of hydraulic lifts for raising patients from a bed and transferring them to a chair or bathtub. A similar device is marketed under the name Hoyer Patient Lifter and includes a sling for supporting the patient during the use thereof. The Batty U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,575 also shows a lift. These devices are expensive and difficult to manipulate, particularly in the confines of small bathrooms.
Another category of device is a bath seat which is either a self-supporting plastic bucket seat with a support harness or a frame with a web or sling which is supported on a frame within the tub to support the handicapped child or patient while being bathed by an attendant. A device of this character is advertised in "The Exceptional Parent" of August 1978 by LaCaron Industries, Inc. A device called a Support-A-Bather, employing a metal tubular frame and hammock sling, is sold by Modular Medical Corporation. Rehabilitation Engineering of the Ontario Crippled Children's Center, Toronto, Ontario, markets a bath frame which employs a tubular steel frame with suction cups and lawn chair webbing to support a child. U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,227 also shows a sling seat supported on a metal frame.
Palmco Engineering sells a bathtub seat having a web with a zipper to enable lowering a patient's head to facilitate hair washing.